Barajevo


Barajevo is a municipality of the city of Belgrade. According to the 2011 census results, the municipality has a population of 27,110 inhabitants.
The municipality is located in the lower northern part of Šumadija, southeast of the Belgrade, with an elevation spanning from 140 meters to 364 meters. Most of the municipal territory belongs to the drainage area of the Turija river, right tributary of the Peštan river, which in turn flows into the Kolubara, thus whole area geographically gravitates to the Kolubara region. The cultural festival, "Barlet" is held annually in Barajevo.

History

Barajevo got the status of municipality in 1956 and immediately became administratively part of the wider Belgrade area. In 1957, a nearby municipality of Beljina was annexed to Barajevo, and in 1960 Umka municipality has been divided between Čukarica and Barajevo.
The settlement of Barajevo is still statistically classified as a rural settlement. Its population is growing by even higher rate than the municipality as a whole. It is located east of the 'Parcanski vis' hill, northern part of the Kosmaj mountain, in the valley of the Beljanica river, a tributary to the Turija river.
Many outer settlements and hamlets are built as Barajevo grows and stretches in all directions making one continuous built-up are with the neighboring settlements : Bela Reka, Dražanovac, Dubrave, Gaj, Glumčevo Brdo, Karaula, Nenadovac, Pajšuma, Ravni Gaj, Srednji Kraj, Stara Lipovica, Suva Šuma, Trebež, Vitkovica.

Settlements

The municipality of Barajevo covers an area of 213 km² and includes 13 settlements, all of which are statistically classified as rural and not urban, including the settlement of Barajevo:
It also includes various sub-settlements and hamlets spawning around the central settlements:

Demographics

According to the 2011 census results, the municipality of Barajevo has a population of 27,110 inhabitants.

Ethnic groups

The ethnic composition of the municipality:
Ethnic groupPopulation
Serbs25,496
Romani252
Montenegrins109
Macedonians85
Croats55
Yugoslavs36
Muslims35
Gorani28
Albanians16
Russians12
Hungarians10
Romanians10
Slovenians10
Others956
Total27,110

Economy

The economy of the municipality is not much developed. Being an agricultural area, Barajevo has a mill, large orchard farm, a veterinarian station and the hunting & forestry company of Lipovička šuma. Wheat, barley, oats and corn are being grown. Industry is based on the small construction and electronic companies and the ball bearing factory.
Two major traffic routes, the Ibar Highway and the railway Belgrade-Bar, are passing through the municipal territory. The settlement itself was further away, but as it grew, it reached the railway.
There are two game hunting grounds in the municipality: "Lipovička Šuma", which extends into the municipality of Čukarica, and "Barajevska Reka".
One of only three officially designated campsites in Belgrade by 2018 is located in the municipality, in the village of Baćevac. It is situated within the complex of the ethno-household "Zornić's House".
The following table gives a preview of total number of registered people employed in legal entities per their core activity :
ActivityTotal
Agriculture, forestry and fishing57
Mining and quarrying3
Manufacturing857
Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply46
Water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities65
Construction258
Wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles776
Transportation and storage236
Accommodation and food services193
Information and communication81
Financial and insurance activities23
Real estate activities11
Professional, scientific and technical activities107
Administrative and support service activities53
Public administration and defense; compulsory social security357
Education347
Human health and social work activities324
Arts, entertainment and recreation37
Other service activities99
Individual agricultural workers64
Total3,995

Artificial lake

The artificial lake "Duboki potok" is located near Barajevo, with the large weekend-settlement, and is colloquially called the "Barajevo Sea". The lake is some south of downtown Belgrade and northeast from downtown Barajevo. It was created in the early 1990s when the brook of the same name was dammed. The lake is long, wide, has an area of and an average depth of. One side of the lake is surrounded by the thick forest and other by the meadows. Even though the water is health safe, it warms up to during summer, and there is a long pebble beach on the left shore, bathing in the lake is officially banned, though visitors do swim regularly. Shores are not urbanized, but there are kafana, splav and a kayaking club on the shore. The club has rich collection of artistic paintings and sculptures donated by the artists from Serbia. One of the exhibits is the kayak which was used by Matija Ljubek and Mirko Nišović when they won a gold medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. Sports fishing is developed as the lake is populated with a variety of fish: common bream, common roach, Prussian carp, common rudd, common carp, zander, northern pike, wels catfish and grass carp. The water is apparently very clean, as the lake is also inhabited by crayfish and freshwater bivalves. There is an underwater spring in the lake.

Politics

Recent presidents of the municipal assembly:
First mention of the name Barajevo is from the 16th century. The popular story that the settlement got its name from the multitude of springs in this area is probably not true.
Also, the reality TV show The Farm is captured in the village of Lisović.